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Travel Asia: Tokyo Skytree opens as world’s tallest tower

The CN Tower gets knocked down another peg on May 22 when Tokyo’s 634-metre Skytree opens to the public.

Visitors will get views of Tokyo previously unavailable in this otherwise relatively low-rise city, whose second-tallest building is more than 50 metres shorter than Toronto’s First Canadian Place. In addition to being an attraction in itself, the construction of the tower has given rise to a large-scale renewal of the Shitamachi neighbourhood in which it sits.

Although the 553-metre CN Tower is still number 3 on the list of tallest towers, its reduced prestige is symbolized in a mural on the bottom floor of the Skytree illustrating the leading towers. In large print, the CN Tower was listed as being in “Tronto”.

Air Transat gets new plane, new lighting

Montreal-based Air Transat unveiled its new 345-seat A330 at its Pearson hangar this week. The plane comes with a seven-stage lighting design for different parts of flights, such as meal time, cruising and a six-minute transition from dark to light meant to wake up passengers on night flights. President Allen Graham, who began his career as a flight attendant, is quite keen on it. “I picked it up from Virgin,” he says. “I’d seen it on the Internet and I said, ‘Damn, I like that!’ ” The colour schemes were created with the assistance of two flight attendants who are also graphic designers. The new plane will be running the Toronto-London route starting on or about June 8.

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En Route best in-flight mag

People who only fly Air Canada may not realize how well the embattled airline stacks up internationally, and a part of that is their in-flight magazine, En Route. According to a top-12 list at CNNGo.com, this “ridiculously tricked-out” magazine is “what an in-flight could (and should) be. Just about every other mag on this list could learn something from En Route’s classy, of-the-moment design and fantastic original photography.”

North Carolina may face tourism reversal

On the heels of a flurry of press releases from Visit North Carolina trying to capitalize on the fact that Hunger Games was filmed there, the state’s voters have decided, by a 60 per cent margin, to not only ban same-sex marriage, but same-sex civil unions, as well. The state’s Starnewsonline.com reported that the Chamber of Commerce for the popular Outer Banks area “received an influx” of tourist cancellations, and comment streams and social media have filled with anecdotal evidence of widespread rethinking of travel plans to the state.

Air India fires pilots

Things work differently in India, where a familiar-sounding labour dispute with pilots resulted in 10 firings after 160 pilots did not turn up for work last week. The disruption caused the cancellation of a planned Delhi-Toronto flight, and the repercussions for the troubled airline may continue.

VIA Rail gets with the 21st century

First, they improved their traditionally horrible on-board WiFi, which now competes with premium high-speed service. Now, the long-suffering railway has decided to allow members of its Via Preference loyalty program to use their points to book travel online, instead of having to phone in.

Delta pulls ads from Daily Show

The controversial “vagina manger” skit aired in April on the popular news comedy show has prompted Delta Airlines to pull its advertising, in an effort to express sympathy with customers upset by the episode.

Seattle to Vancouver for $1

For four days starting May 31, Bolt Bus is launching its new route by offering all seats for $1. There were still seats available at press time, but I imagine sales are moving briskly, so if you’re planning on being in the Pacific Northwest around that time, you may want to book now (boltbus.com).

Chicago was No. 1 at Pearson

In a tweet this week, Lester B. Pearson International Airport released the top five places its customers flew to during 2011. They were Chicago, with 763,000 passengers, New York’s LaGuardia at 731,000, Los Angeles at 545,000, Orlando at 527,000 and Miami at 508,000.

And furthermore…

Nude travel organization Nudist Clubhouse is holding its expo in Vegas June 1 and 2; tickets are $25 at the door . . . The Omni in Dallas has become the first hotel in Texas to get a LEED Gold sustainability certification . . . A 78-year-old tourist collapsed and died on a mid-day hike on Gran Canaria during a recent heat wave . . . Qatar Airways has refused delivery of five A380 jets until Airbus fixes what it perceives as a design flaw in the superjet’s wing brackets . . . Paramount has licensed its name to hoteliers and as many as 50 hotels are on their way . . . A man who paid $400,000 for unlimited lifetime travel back in 1987 has had his “golden ticket” rescinded over accusations of fraud . . . Travel to southeastern Manitoba was halted this week due to a quickly spreading wildfire.

App of the Week: Clothing Size Conversion

Nothing labels you a tourist faster than asking a clerk what these shoes are in North American sizes. This free app lets you keep your cover, and saves you a little frustrating trial and error in those shops that, quite reasonably, don’t know what sizes are back home. It features an easily navigable list of dress, shoe, ring, coat, pant and even sock sizes. The ads at the bottom are a little annoying, but the thing is free, after all.

Bert Archer writes weekly about travel news to use and amuse. You can reach him with tips, complaints and questions at bertstravel@gmail.com, and follow him on Twitter @BertArcher.

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